Sunday, February 10, 2019

"Who's Next?" in line for FSW Champ Chris Bey?

FSW Heavyweight Champion Chris Bey showed why he is the top guy in Southern Nevada with a hard-fought win against SoCal Stud “Relentless” Douglas James last night at the FSW Arena. Like Goldberg said, “Who’s Next?” It won’t be Bill, but now that Bey’s made another successful defense we can haggle a bit to see who might be next for the “Ultimate Finesser.”

Hammerstone – This is the obvious one. The 602-day champion returns to Las Vegas February 23rd and has yet to get a return match for the FSW Title. Hammer had Bey on the ropes prior to the chaos leading to the Title change and would like nothing more than to come back and rain on the new Champions parade. As I have written before there isn’t more he can accomplish in FSW, but righting a perceived wrong with the “Finesser” may be too tantalizing an opportunity for The Business to pass up.

“Relentless” Douglas James – Umm Why not? He came within milliseconds of winning the strap and certainly deserves consideration from the FSW Championship committee for a rematch. James caused so many problems for Bey by keeping pace with his speed and quickness. James is very strong and nearly went through the Champ with a spear off the ropes early on in the fight.

Andy Brown vs Suede Thompson at FSW Arena

“Uptown” Andy Brown – Andy Brown used brain power and some dirty tricks to get the win over Bey’s running mate and tag team partner Suede Thompson Saturday night. Brown beat Tyler Bateman twice to win and retain the Ground Zero Title, and snatched the Hollywood Heritage Title from Royce Isaacs. Those are very impressive wins, and Brown has had success against the Champion before in Southern California. However, Las Vegas is now Bey’s yard, on a roll himself so maybe it’s time for Bey to go “Uptown” again?

Shogun Jones – Jones proved at No Escape he was more than worthy to compete for the Gold, and despite falling short he didn’t embarrass himself. On the contrary, the big powerful athlete is only going to improve and the next title defense against him will be more perilous than the last. When not if, Bey gets back in the ring with Jones he has to make sure not to get caught slugging it out with him again. Shogun can end a fight with one Big Boot, so that game plan could lead to disaster in a rematch.

Jake Atlas – “The Superstar” returns to Las Vegas after competing for the No Limits Title in the Cage Scramble at No Escape in January. Atlas certainly has the cred to warrant a title shot after winning his second Crown in SoCal by taking home the PCW ULTRA UltraLight Title, January 18th. Multiple problems present themselves for Bey against Atlas. While Bey competes extremely well against bigger opponents, Jake isn’t the norm. Atlas combines fluid movement with explosive power, and is astute and getting out of harm’s way then back into offensive position. He never stays set which could minimize Bey’s speed advantage.

Tyler Bateman – The Smash over Flash practitioner certainly has the resume for an immediate Title Shot and was part of a Four-man Scramble for the Nevada State Championship (Graves retained Title) last month at the Arena. Bateman’ strength, power, and striking ability are legendary, so there are obvious dangers here. The least of which is Tyler’s finisher “Death from Above” which ends fights immediately.

Johnny Morrison – The IMPACT World Champion would be a dream match for Bey. This match would be teacher vs student which has millions of juicy subplots. This match is probably wishful thinking…

“The EF’n Machine” Brian Cage – This one might not be. Cage is a former FSW Champion and would be a great bout for the reigning Champ. Despite Cage’s size Bey has the superior speed and would try to keep this destructive force off-balance.